Effect of solution chemistry and speciation on shelf-life of silica sols and characteristics of deposited mesoporous thin films

The effects of storage temperature and time on deposition characteristics of molecularly templated silica sols, used in synthesis of mesoporous silica films, were investigated by preparing acid catalysed water–ethanol–TEOS sols with surfactant and analysing by silicon-29 NMR spectroscopy over a period of multiple days, and by producing films after specific storage times corresponding to collection of NMR spectral data, and analysed for thickness and porosity.